Doki Doki Forlorn
by Ashimmu
Summary: There's a lot you can say in a letter, but some of the most important things you have to do in person. James didn't think he'd find his life's most important meaning in a letter or rather who wrote it. AU OC/Yuri
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _This is a fan work with characters belonging to Team Salvato._

Notes:

Another story I had written concurrently with _Doki Doki Bittersweet_. After getting some almost immediate positive reception(to my surprise) to _Bittersweet_ I decided to publish this and get started writing it. This is also an AU like my story _Doki Doki Bittersweet_ with only the character(s) being the link to the fandom. Doki Doki allows us to experience a fairly wide variety of personalities and light backgrounds despite Monika saying they are the most shallow.

* * *

He didn't think much of writing letters to people. It seemed disingenuous to write a random stranger about your life and problems when you'd never likely see them or interact with them beyond writing on a piece of paper. He _had_ heard of people meeting others this way and forming lasting bonds and _logically_ he knew before the advent of telephones or e-mail's this was the way people talked to each other over long distances. In his mind however, the content of a letter to a stranger felt as two dimensional as the medium it was written on.

James was a soldier in his countries military. He enlisted when he was young after finding very little he was good at or indeed felt he was fulfilled with. The military to him was assured employment, direction, and a temporary way of life so he could figure out what he _truly_ wanted to do with that life. People that joined up for god and country were alien to him in an age where they'd likely never fire a shot in anger let alone in defense of their home's. Most people seemed to be as pragmatic as he was in basic training, thinking like him it was a good way to earn bread and gain skills they'd use later in life to continue doing so.

James snorted derisively, true he earned money and acquired the skills he wanted but he was wrong about never fighting. Shortly before he completed training and earned his stripe a nation in the east decided bombing public areas was a great way to send a message, and shockingly his nations government decided to respond beyond the norm of policy and embargo's.

They called it a war but it was really a cleansing. War implied there was some sort of back and forth, territory bought with lives and lost just as quickly. His squad rarely if ever found themselves defending. His squad was a part of a larger battle group who's general purpose was mobile light assault. He was one of a small number of combat medic's whose responsibilities included first aid, triage, and emergency field surgery if the need called for it. His mother was a nurse and frequently studied medicine for exams and qualifications when he was growing up and so he was familiar with the basics so it seemed an obvious step to choose it after his aptitude test allowed him to choose to be a medic. Not only did he receive infantry training included in basic, but he spent quite an amount of time training in saving other peoples lives.

His training was rarely needed in the beginning, the superior military training and technology of his squad almost never found equal on the battlefield. The enemy barely qualified as militia with imported Cold War era weaponry and self taught battle tactics. The only time he found himself actually using anything he was taught was when his comrade's were dehydrated or had infections from poor hygiene.

This state of affairs continued for what seemed like forever. Combat patrols, sleep, treat blisters, eat, and so on and so forth. The real enemy in his mind was boredom. The things his unit got up to were hilarious on the surface, but hid an almost manic response to sheer monotony. People thought fighting was constant life or death decisions, when really it was moments of adrenaline dotting like islands among a sea of everyday routine. He had an easier time of it, his whole attitude when he started all this was that it was a job. Despite that even he felt what those around him suffered from creeping on him like an animal stalking its prey.

Thing's changed when the enemy got smarter, started receiving training from 'third-party contractors' or so the news back home said. Blisters became shrapnel wounds and soldiers sick from fatigue became nearly dead bodies on stretchers. Almost in spite of his previous attitude he became angry at the enemy. He treated the idea of 'brothers in arms' with derision before, but opinions change when the man he was talking to the day before over MREs became quickly dying and screaming not a few feet from him after his squads position was hosed down by the thunderous report of a .50 caliber.

After a while his boredom was replaced by the much more debilitating issues of shock and fright. He thought he knew exactly how his life was going to go, join the military and coast along life after using his benefits for education in medical school. Instead it turned into a seemingly never ending struggle for what seemed to him no rhyme or reason. He was equally parts horrified and ashamed to find himself not caring at all eventually, as the theater of war heated up rotations back home became more and more infrequent and with it he became more and more jaded to the new state of his life.

Almost a year and a half of this continued almost without pause. Somewhere along the way his actions on the battlefield saving lives became noticed higher up the food chain and he earned himself a medal and a promotion by lieu of being the most experienced and trained medic in his battalion as new soldiers were introduced when the old ones couldn't continue. This thankfully resulted in him more frequently being stationed at forward operating bases instead of the quick reaction elements he was a part of before. Instead of patching up the bleeding forms of friends in the dirt and sand he worked on touching up or doing more complicated procedures in tents where the echo of gunshots and mortars were distantly heard.

After a few months of this a new trend and order came down the ranks about a letter exchange program with people back home in schools and universities. His superior told him when prompted about the purpose of it that it was an attempt to boost morale among the troops by providing an outlet as well as dispelling rumors back home about life over here. He laughed about it at the time by himself. To him the idea of sharing anything with a stranger let alone that stranger caring about something that doesn't affect them was ludicrous.

His attitude didn't change with the first letter he had gotten or the next. Both from different people, the almost lazy handwriting and apathetic "Thank you for your service" told him they had the same idea he did about this ridiculous program. He did reply to the second, asking what they got on their end for sending their letters across the world. Evidently most of the people the writer knew that participated were majors relating to literature, history, or English and received credit as project for doing so. The frankness in the letter was refreshing and confirmed his previous opinions. It was amazing to him they received these when not half a year ago they had problems even getting batteries for night vision goggles.

The new routine of replying politely but with no real substance to letters didn't change until later. One day he received what felt like his hundredth correspondence but unlike the almost copy-pasted scrawl and questions about what life was like in what was becoming his most hated country on Earth it instead asked him something different.

" _How are you?"_

The question itself seemed equal parts confusing and strangely welcoming. Normally you'd be asked that by family, friends or even a server at a restaurant. You didn't normally hear it from for example someone on the bus or when passing someone on the street. The question almost glowed on the paper, like headlights on a country street. After being interrupted of his almost computer like scanning and only partial acknowledgment of the previous letters by the basic but also rare courtesy he noticed the almost artistic handwriting and unusual lavender colored ink.

He reread the letter top to bottom with more attention, learning the name of the sender and some basic facts about her she chose to share. Her name was Yuri, twenty two years old and majoring in Literature at a community college with a focus and interest on Renaissance period plays, poems, stories, and tragedies. The letter itself despite being neat had a hesitation behind the hand that had written it, with a few areas having slightly larger drops of ink before the strokes. The paper itself had small wrinkles on the bottom and the slight scent of jasmine when he had opened the envelope.

Her letter also had sparse details about her personal life, describing her hobbies as reading(which hadn't surprised him), poetry and aromatherapy. After reading the last item on that small but somehow to him rarely given list the smell of the envelope made more sense to him.

He wasn't sure why he put more focus on this letter more then others. Maybe it was the apathetic and almost condescending nature of the others? Regardless what was initially a _very_ poor distraction of his hectic but slowly normalizing life became an engrossing acquaintance and hobby. He found himself describing his own background and personal life across a large chain of back and forth discussion. He told her his hometown, his job in the military and why he had become a medic which led to talking about family.

His mother, Carolyn had him when she was only nineteen with his father splitting before the bed he was conceived on was even cold. Despite the economically more sensible option of aborting him, she had carried him to term anyway and raised him. They were poor with his mother in medical school and also having to clothe, feed, and shelter both him and herself. When he was twelve he had badly wounded his leg after crashing on his bicycle in the neighborhood his house lay on, and his mother had fixed and calmed him. This had started his interest in his mothers chosen career and his almost paradoxical interest in helping others despite his laid back and standoffish personality. His initial intention was to go to medical school like his mother or become a paramedic, but life quickly drained his motivation and he instead did odd jobs to fuel pointless hobbies which was why he had enlisted.

Her family were second generation immigrants from an Asian country, her grandparents had started a small eastern cuisine restaurant that her mother and father inherited and continued wanting to put her through college as the first in their family. She had an interest even earlier than his interest in medicine for reading when she engrossed herself in some books her grandparents brought over from their home country, becoming bilingual from them and the books. Eventually in a private high school she joined an extracurricular literature club(which baffled him, he had never heard of clubs like that) and became even more enveloped in English and European stories as well as writing poems.

Their backgrounds couldn't be any less similar but despite that continued to write each other about what happened the previous week or even about inane things that somehow didn't feel pointless to write about with her. The months dragged on into another year and before long he was finally told he was finally being discharged. This was received by James with relief, many soldiers had their service obligation extended. Despite the stress and horror of his time overseas he was almost sad to go, thinking his… _pen pal_ wouldn't want to continue writing each other since she had no obligation herself. When he had written one of his last letters to her describing his week before finally informing her of his return back home and receiving a response she had told him she didn't mind them continuing, and maybe meeting in person.

He was despite his usual self, elated and looking forward to it.

* * *

James stepped off the walkway of the airliner he had finally reached home on. Unlike what people thought it was _highly_ unusual to have pomp and circumstance surround the return of a soldier, reserved for the end of wartime mainly and despite him returning the 'war' continued from where he came. He wouldn't however trade seeing his mother and one of his best friends welcoming him back for some strangers shouting and a band playing.

"It's so good to see you" his mother had said when he finally reached her and surrounded him in a hug.

"You too mom." he said with some tears pooling on the bottom of his eyes before pulling away from her. Those tears suddenly went away almost instantly when his best friend Kyle suddenly smacked him on the back hard enough to jolt him forward.

"Welcome back man, you look like shit!" Kyle said boisterously laughing slightly at his own stab at James admittedly horrible countenance.

Kyle had been his friend since middle school, suddenly shoving into his life over lunch in the cafeteria even though at the time James was considered an anti-social loner. James had no idea why Kyle suddenly decided to get on with him, but he had and they stayed friends through the carefree period of middle school and the stress of high school.

"Thanks asshole." James said jokingly before continuing "I must have missed my beauty sleep in between the colossal amount of paperwork I had to go through and the horrible seats."

"Language both of you!" Carolyn almost scolding, sending looks of disapproval at both of us before chuckling as James and Kyle laughed at each other.

"Well at least you made it Jim, you missed a lot while you were over there." Kyle said moving his hands like he was holding onto something large.

"I'm sure you'll bug me about every little thing." James chuckled.

"Oh yeah you better believe it!" Kyle said before pointing at Carolyn "She practically became my second mother, how could you leave me with her?" he said almost crying.

"As if you have anything to complain about, you practically can't take care of yourself." Carolyn said heatedly before explaining "I lost count of how many times you came over whining about not being able to cook!"

'Well that's interesting, didn't know Kyle even got along with my mom.' James thought remembering their time before he left.

Kyle was always the more wild of the two, constantly getting them into trouble like skipping class almost enough to get truancy officers involved, and getting into scrapes with other guys trying to bully him in high school. Even though James could take care of himself, Kyle always was there helping him out. It always seemed to him that his mother thought Kyle was a bad influence on him.

Lost in thought, he was brought back to the present by Kyle grabbing his shoulder. "Let's go man, this place is packed like a can of sardines!" Kyle said motioning to the terminal around them with business men and a few other service members in their fatigues bustling around.

"Yeah let's go home." James agreed nodding and following his friend and mother out of the terminal's building and to their car in a nearby parking lot.

* * *

The car ride was tremendously relaxing to him, despite his choice to join the military he was relieved to finally be almost done with it. Excluding another war or the one he left expanding tremendously he wouldn't be going back within his mandatory time in his branches reserve force. Most of the talking on the way home was catching up on the day to day and talking about small things while he was over there.

"So you still going to write that woman you told me you were writing with?" his mother suddenly asked.

Kyle made an 'oooh' noise before adding "I didn't hear about this Jim you got some kind of long distance _girlfriend?_ " he asked putting emphasis on 'girlfriend' with a goofy look on his face.

"It's not like that but yeah I am. We wrote about me coming back home and Yuri said she'd be interested." James stated with some heat in the beginning.

"Yuri, is that her name? Sounds exotic." Kyle said teasingly.

James huffed before putting his arm around Kyle's neck from the backseat. "Don't you start with me now!" he growled shaking him and Kyle laughing.

"Behave you two I am trying to drive!" Carolyn said laughing a bit as well.

James relaxed and pulled back his arm, going back to his seat before continuing.

"She doesn't actually live that far from here, we talked about maybe seeing each other in person."

"That's pretty interesting considering you've only written to?" Kyle said questioningly.

"Well we've been writing to each other for a long time." James stated while shrugging.

"Do you even know what she looks or sounds like?" Kyle asked with one of his eyebrows raised.

"No, but I guess I will find out. I guess it's kind of old school to not call or Skype her or something right?"

"I don't think so, its kind of sweet." Carolyn said smiling slightly.

"Jesus mom, can you not?" James asked his ears going slightly red.

Kyle laughed at his friend's embarrassment briefly before calming down.

"I don't think its that weird Jim, there isn't that much difference between what you two were doing and someone meeting from Facebook or something." he said unusually serious.

James looked surprised at the uncharacteristically serious and thoughtful reassurance. Usually Kyle would just bust his chops about anything but I guess he matured a bit like him while he was overseas.

Before long they reached his and his mothers house, one of many in the suburban neighborhood he'd lived all his life in. It was a nondescript but well maintained one story house with a bay window on the front and a walk up to the front door. It was one of those sturdy brick with plastic siding houses that were common in the late 60's to mid 70's. It was built with a high amount of weather proofing for the turbulent coastal climate of the state he lived in, but despite that was rather homely.

Everyone exited the car, with Kyle helping him unload his fairly light amount of possessions from the trunk and backseat that was next to him. James took a moment to breathe in the air nostalgically.

'I'm home.' he thought smiling and relaxing his shoulders.

* * *

 **AN:** Most of this chapter was backstory for James and the introduction of some original characters and a Doki. Unlike _Bittersweet_ I planned on having most if not all of the cast of Doki Doki Literature Club included in this. Hopefully the backstory wasn't too long winded and the character's conversing wasn't patchy. I have a hard time writing actual conversation like how to follow one part of a statement with another after a character action like _'"That was pretty stupid of you." X laughed at Y's misfortune. "I hope you learned something."_

I'd love some feedback and maybe another writer to tell me the formatting of conversation between two or more characters.

Also don't think too much on looking for parallels to real life, I made a lot of places and events generic on purpose for ambiguity.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _This is a fan work with characters belonging to Team Salvato._

Notes:

A brand new chapter for a brand new day! I am glad to have received reviews and follows so quickly after the publishing of the first chapter of _Doki Doki Forlorn_! In return, I feel its an obligation to continue this story while the iron is still hot, so to speak. Enjoy the new chapter of Jim and Yuri's story!

* * *

What immediately struck James as he entered his childhood home after so long away was the smell. Many people as they visit friends, relatives or complete strangers homes usually take notice of the unique aroma of another abode. Many people when visiting their grandparent's for instance remark on the 'old person smell', but when you are away for a long time and come back to your own home you notice things you didn't before.

The one thing James noticed about his and his mother Carolyn's house was the smell of coconut's oddly enough before he remembered his mother preferred that aroma for her shampoo.

'It make's sense since nobody else would be here a lot.' James thought looking around the living room, smiling nostalgically at how very little indeed changed since he'd been away.

Same old furniture they'd had for as long as James could remember, with small things like scuffs on the wooden floors as evidence his house in fact was lived in and not stuck in some time capsule. Even the curtains worn with the sun's ultraviolet rays yet clearly cleaned and maintained hadn't been replaced.

"I figured you'd at least replace those by now mom." James stated pointing at the aforementioned drapes.

"Why would I do that?" his mother questioned with the edges of her lips upturned slightly "No need to fix what isn't broken."

James shrugged and sat a bag down in the corner of the room, looking back at his friend carrying the last few pieces of luggage he'd brought. Like his normal always helpful self Kyle had taken it upon himself to transport most of the cargo citing it was his duty to make sure his best friend relaxed after coming home.

"You good with that man?" James asked.

Kyle huffed with some sweat coming off his brow "Yeah I'm alright, this is heavy!" he whined likewise setting down a box and two small bags with the rest of his friends stuff.

"You insisted, I told you I packed this stuff to the gills." James laughed at Kyle before continuing "I figured a working man like you wouldn't be so out of shape."

"It's not like I exercised every day like you Jim, air conditioner units and tools are heavy but these days I don't do much of the grunt work anymore." Kyle shrugged after explaining his obviously already fatigued appearance.

James smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder "That's right you're a manager at your company now right? How's that working for you?"

"It's more like a mom and pop group but it's pretty great. I make way more than the salary I had when I was doing installations. Still though I miss roughing it out sort of." Kyle said.

James nodded with a smile on his face before his mother interrupted their discussion "Well we can get your stuff to your room later, how about something to eat?" she said before motioning to the kitchen "I made some sandwiches this morning for when you got back."

James and Kyle both agreed enthusiastically, sandwiches sounded great after the long car ride and lifting. Everyone made their way quickly to the nearby kitchen and dining room, the men sitting at the counter separating the two while Carolyn brought out the Italian sandwiches she mentioned.

"Anything to drink?" Carolyn asked going back and opening the fridge after setting down the food.

"Can I get some beer?" Kyle asked while separating the sliced sandwich.

"Sounds good to me too mom." James agreed but paused and asked his mother when she started liking beer?

"They're mine, sometimes I come over and help Carolyn out with stuff." Kyle said while twisting the cap off the brew and then taking a swig, sighing contentedly at the cold drink.

James raised his eyebrows thinking 'Something's really _have_ changed.' thinking back previously to his mothers opinions on his best friend. Maybe Kyle's grounded lifestyle changed her opinion while he was away?

He shrugged and did the same as his friend, also sighing at the bitter but very much welcome frosted drink cooling his insides.

"It's kind of an equal exchange, he fixed the plumbing under the sink a week ago. You know how I am with that stuff." Carolyn paused before saying teasingly "Even if the scale is tipped slightly to me with the sheer amount of cleaning I've done at his home."

Kyle blushed around the sandwich he was already stuffing his face with before sputtering out "It's not like I force you to do that!"

Carolyn glared at Kyle, who quickly stammered out "Even if it is appreciated.", her glare quickly transformed into a grin to his relief and he continued munching on the delicious Italian sandwich.

"Jeez, my mother sure tamed you man." James chuckled at the two of them averting their eyes as his mother joined his friend in his impersonation of a tomato.

"Fuck off." Kyle stated but quickly winced when Carolyn suddenly smacked his arm, the implied 'Language!' on her face.

'That would have blown my mom's top a few years ago.' James thought thoroughly surprised.

The rest of the lunch continued with Kyle telling him about his work and his mother pitching in with hers as a Nurse Practitioner. She had completed her time as a regular Registered Nurse at the local clinic/small hospital before completing the study and exam work to elevate herself. Instead of doing the work, she now made sure those under her did it well instead. James was proud having known how much time she spent in his childhood studying to get where she is now.

* * *

The day outside slowly turned dark as the sandwiches were firmly divided and conquered, now demolished on everyone's plates. The festive atmosphere never let up as they talked about other friends of Kyle and James. One of which was Adam, who became a part of their little circle in first year of high school, likewise not much of a socialite but was brought in by Kyle much like he had done with James in middle school. They quickly found common interests with each other and continued being friends to this day.

"So he's doing alright?" James asked Kyle smiling. His mother excused herself a while ago to do some minor chores and now it was just the two sipping on their second beers catching up.

"Yeah, he works in the city doing IT and stuff. You know installing internet or something for offices." Kyle said shrugging when he tried explaining his friends job.

"You mean computer networking?" James mocked, smirking at his friends uncomfortable face. His best friend was always the sort-of jock of their group, preferring to do sports instead of reading or playing any video games unlike James or Adam.

"Yeah whatever, but he's doing pretty good as far as I know." Kyle paused before grimacing and continuing with "Makes more money than I do actually."

James laughed at his friend, who's opinion while in high school was that Adam's "nerd shit" would never amount to anything. He always tried to muscle Adam into joining his Air and Heating work but gave up when Adam started going to school to get certifications for computers. 'Now who's laughing?' he smirked to himself at that thought.

Kyle spotted his smirk and correctly concluded what his friend was thinking, but smiled instead of getting upset and stated with some pride "But good for him, we've all got something we're good at you know?"

James nodded but frowned slightly and muttered "I still don't know what to do yet to be honest. All that time in the military I thought I'd have an idea but instead I ended up thinking about other things.", his body slowly easing into a slouch.

Kyle clapped his friend on the back, still smiling and said "Don't worry about it Jim, its not like Carol will kick you out or something so you got some time. Doesn't that medical training translate to college cred's?"

James looked surprised for a moment "I honestly wasn't thinking of that, how'd you know about it?" he asked peering under his brow at his friend.

"She actually told me about it a while ago, when she was in that little fit over how her 'baby boy' was doing what his 'mommy' does." Kyle mocked his friend, mentioning his mother and her embarrassing but pretty normal descriptions of his friend.

Jim quickly hid his face with his hands, letting out a loud breathe "Why did she say that in front of you?!" he asked through his gritted teeth.

Kyle laughed at his friend while he calmed down. James also laughed with him after the embarrassment blew over.

Both simmered down to chuckles after a minute laughing and James said "Maybe I'll look into going to nursing school too and see what my training did and didn't cover."

Kyle nodded satisfied he cheered up and got his friend sorted.

* * *

It was night time when Kyle finally had to go home, his mother popping in and out as they continued talking about what happened while James was gone and lightly touching on what he did overseas. His mother he noticed had carried most of his stuff to what he presumed his old room when he walked with his friend back to the front door.

"Alright I'll see you later, tell 'mommy' the sandwiches were great." Kyle said, mocking his friend slightly for the earlier explanation.

"Whatever, I'll see you later..." he muttered getting slightly peeved again at the dig before quieting down and hugging his friend. He waved him off as he walked to his car to go back home and went back inside.

James shut the door, suddenly feeling very tired and jet lagged from the long flight, carrying his stuff inside and catching up with his friend for the rest of the day. He walked to the hallway leading to the bedrooms, hearing the shower on in the bathroom which was in the middle of the hall.

'Mom must be taking a shower before bed or something.' He thought deciding not to disturb her and walked to the slightly ajar door to his room.

He opened it fully and went inside, taking in his bedroom. Not much had changed just like the rest of the house, his furniture still where he left it with some possessions he decided to leave behind still scattered around. Some things were replaced like the bed sheets and the room had clearly been dusted and maintained while he was gone. He smiled thanking his mom in his head for saving him the trouble and spotted all the things he brought back against a free wall. He walked over and unzipped a large forest green bag, a common one issued to all soldiers for storing gear and such before taking a metal lockbox out wedged in the center among some fatigues and clothes. He unlocked it, opened it and looked inside. This was where he put some of the stuff he didn't really want the guys in his barracks to find and some small valuables. The large majority of the contents however were his letters from Yuri.

He took the opened box to his desk, placing it on the surface and sat on the old computer chair in front of it. Rummaging to the bottom of the pile of letters he brought out a crumpled letter, well worn with evidence of being read frequently and started reading it again like many times before.

* * *

 _To Pfc. James_

 _Greetings, my name is Yuri and I am writing to you from back home. I recently decided to write to you after joining an extra college course that included credits for writing soldiers overseas. I'm sure by now you've read many letters from other people so I suppose you might have heard the same from them. Regardless, I also wanted to write to you personally because it struck me how lonely it must be over there. Even here in school surrounded by my peers I always felt like I was the only person there and I have a hard time talking to others. Even now I am still a little nervous about suddenly writing to some stranger in an even stranger country but I find myself getting less and less nervous as it goes on. Maybe its easier to write instead of talk do you think?_

 _I have been here for what seems like forever, but it's only been about two years. I came here pretty late compared to my friend's when I was twenty, deciding to major in Literature after I realized I could turn my hobby of reading and poetry into a career of maybe showing and teaching people what I find so interesting. I especially like learning about some of the literature from 14th to 17th century Europe, you know like Renaissance? It's amazing to me that a time of such turmoil and sometimes horror could share such deep and remarkable emotional stories and tragedies._

 _I also found myself early on in college an interest in aromatherapy. It's the use of things like oils to elicit emotions as well as calm the body. I learned about it while browsing a local shop and it came in handy when exam's came and I had to study so intently. Even though I am twenty two now and I am much more capable of focusing and staying awake at night some things are extremely comforting. I am sure by now you are sick of reading about me so I'd like to ask._

 _How are you?_

 _Awaiting your response,_

 _Yuri_

* * *

This was the letter that so captivated his attention and egged him on in starting a relationship across the horizon. To this day it amazes him how one sentence can capture the mind and demand a response. You'd think after barely reading letters from the many other people it would be the same for this one, but that one question hit him like the light of a beacon.

" _How are you?"_

He sighed before carefully folding and placing the worn paper back into the box, shutting it and resting his hand on the lid in thought. Thinking back on the back and forth between him and a stranger turned friend and confidant before being broken from his thoughts by a sudden knock on his door.

He turned his head and chair around to his door, spotting his mother standing there smiling in a towel with damp hair.

"Are you okay hun?" she asked still smiling at her son

James nodded before returning the smile and stating "Yeah I was just checking something and I started staring into space."

His mother started walking into the room looking around before saying "I hope your old room is okay, I kept cleaning it out of habit and I made sure the bed was fixed yesterday."

He got up from his chair and stood in front of his mother and said "It's great mom, I'm glad to be back home." Carolyn started tearing up before hugging her son and resting her head on his shoulder and returned with "I am so happy you're back. Even though I was proud you started going forward I always thought of you over there."

He returned the hug tightly, also starting to tear up and muttered back "I know mom, but I'm not going anywhere like that again. I love you"

She returned the endearment and they remained like that for a comfortable few minutes, just relishing and confirming the fact they were both there. Eventually they broke apart and she smiled at him.

"I guess you'll want to sleep after such a long day." she stated walking back to the door after he returned the smile back.

James nodded "Yeah I am pretty bushed, the flight back was pretty brutal. But I was glad to talk to Kyle face to face after all this time." he said before yawning and stretching his arms out.

She turned around before leaving still smiling and nodded back "Okay, I have to do some things before going to sleep too. Good night son."

"Good night" he replied.

She closed the door softly on her way out and he stood there for a few moments smiling.

'I'm glad to see her smile after so long.' he thought to himself. He turned to the ton of thing's against the wall pondering if he should unpack before deciding not to and stripping from the fatigues he had worn the entire day. He was down to his skivvies when he turned back to his desk and picking up the lockbox. He smiled again briefly thinking of his female friend now not too far away before placing it in a drawer nearby before crawling into the cool but soothing sheets on his bed.

'I wonder what Yuri is doing now?' he thought before surrendering to the comforting embrace of Morpheus.

* * *

 **AN:** I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 of _Doki Doki Forlorn_! I'm getting a little more comfortable with character conversations and interactions as I write this story and I hope I get feedback on how I am doing on that end. Most of this chapter was advancing Jim's return home and a segue into Yuri's life for next chapter where you will see more influence from the Doki Doki cast instead of my original character.

Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _This is a fan work with characters belonging to Team Salvato._

Notes:

Third chapter today! Interest seems to be petering off but that's fine since a few of you seem to enjoy reading which is great for if even one person continues reading I will write.

* * *

On a cool and sunny day the routine hustle and bustle on campus of a quaint yet highly rated community college seemed almost as uniform as the clothes some of the students wore. Yet among them one student was sitting on a bench near the side of a walkway leading between two buildings, reading a piece of paper with an envelope sitting on her lap. The rising and falling volume and passage of her fellow students seemed to be far away from her as her full focus was on the basic yet neat and highly legible handwriting on the now identified letter. Occasionally her almost laser-like focus on the paper was broken by wind blowing her long purple hair in front of her eyes obscuring her view, to which she moved and smoothed out her hair in a manner speaking of doing it many times.

Yuri was always excited and happy to read anything but this article in particular captured her attention because it was for _her_. Not too long ago she started writing a soldier overseas fighting in the most recent series of wars countering terrorist activity at the source. Initially an exercise to attempt writing another person and expand her ability in her chosen study, it slowly turned into a genuine wish to continue talking with this person and learn more about them while sharing something about herself.

She had friends of course, but many of them didn't particularly care about _her._ Attempting to even share some of her hobbies even to people in her class were met with bored stares or even a muttered 'weird' in the case of her fascination with aromatherapy. But the person she never met in person and who could for all she knew belong to some parallel reality seemed earnest in his interest in things people she knew for a fact existed couldn't care less about.

Sharing her long standing hobby and now career choice in Literature was met with questions on what her favorite book was or asking for suggestions. Likewise introducing aromatherapy to this stranger ended up being a series of shockingly deep letters on smells influencing how you perceive reality. Even though he had no knowledge himself on aromatherapy he attempted to relate anyway by talking about his own amusing and sometimes thoughtful anecdotes.

Likewise he shared some personal details of his life like his family and friends back home. She laughed at some of the situations he got into with his friends and even some embarrassing memories of his mother. He too was the same age as her but they couldn't be more different yet still found each other interacting.

She started getting depressed when her newfound friend overseas recently explained he was coming back home, but it quickly turned to beaming happiness when he proposed continuing to write each other and maybe meeting up face to face. She was slightly nervous about the second part, always feeling so when meeting new people but it quickly washed away when she realized he wasn't some stranger but someone she had talked with for years now. The letter she was currently reading was his last overseas stating he was finally returning and included an address to send new letters to. She knew he lived in a neighboring town but seeing the address brought home how close he now was to her. Her friend had always seemed to far away and was now so close she could almost feel his breath.

She was broken out of her reverie by a bell in the distance, and quickly gathered her things from the bench she was sitting on to go home. Her classes were finished for the day and she was glad to finally go home and possibly curl up next to a book. Every time she was home was a big relief on her mind and body, particularly back pains she had as she grew up. One of her friends frequently joked about it and pegged it as 'bad reading posture' in almost envy. Even though her friend never meant anything by it, it always brought back bad memories of being bullied in school for being more womanly than her peers. If she hadn't made friends she might have just entered her shell completely like a petrified turtle.

As she was making her way to the exit she heard the punctual everyday shout of her best friend make its way to her from behind. She turned around to greet her friend in her normal subdued manner, taking in her almost ritually frazzled and unkempt appearance.

Her friends name was Sayori, she like Yuri were currently attending their towns college by lieu of living close by and its genuinely decent course curriculum. Her bright blue eye's slightly shadowed by her bushy and low effort rose blonde hair were wide with exertion from no doubt running all the way to meet Yuri.

As Sayori took a moment to catch her breathe Yuri took a moment to think about her friend. Sayori was the kind of person you didn't see yourself being friends with in the now, but somehow _was_ your friend by virtue of knowing her so long. Yuri met her in elementary school, with Sayori taking it upon herself to befriend her because 'she looked lonely'. Like Yuri she was born from an immigrant family but unlike Yuri had a Caucasian father owing to her lighter skin tone and eye color. Her Asian descent however showed on most of her other features.

She was distinctly bright and cheerful to Yuri's sometimes dour and shy demeanor which might be why they got on so well.

'Opposites attract I guess' Yuri thought smiling at her friend slightly.

"Hey Yuri, you weren't going to go home without me were you?!" Sayori exclaimed waving her arms around wildly "I haven't seen you all day!"

"No I wasn't, I assumed you would probably make it here like always on my way back." Yuri stammered slightly guilty despite the familiar situation.

Sayori took notice and beamed at her before reassuring Yuri that is was fine before coming up beside her to walk home.

They both lived on the same street which had a shocking amount of Asian immigrants becoming somewhat of an oriental neighborhood. People frequently visited the local restaurants or shops for unusual selections or availed themselves of the unique mix of cultures. Another one of the reasons Sayori befriended Yuri was because of noticing her in the neighborhood before they entered school.

"So how was your day today?" Sayori chirped happily as they walked home.

"It was good, we had a lecture on the properties of narrative poetry and how they differ from other stories and poems." Yuri stated smiling now.

"How are they different?" Sayori asked with her eyes slightly crossing in thought.

Yuri's face quickly morphed into a look of intense focus before adopting a lecturing and uncharacteristically level tone as she said "Narrative poetry by design has a metered structure throughout, similar to conventional poetry but not necessarily adopting its rhythmic components and can vary widely in its pace and length but normally having the subject be dramatic with a focusing point in its narrative." and going further on divulging its genre's and many examples of it's form.

Sayori smiled to herself listening to her friends almost _rant_ on the characteristics and value of narrative poetry. While Sayori herself had a small interest in poetry having been introduced to it by her friend and finding a knack for putting her emotions on paper, she lacked the sheer passion Yuri had in everything that had to do with paper and pen. She mainly asked about it because she knew it was one of the few things Yuri absolutely glowed when talking about.

While others saw a weird loner girl with funny colored hair and eyes, she saw an interesting but lonely potential friend. While others bullied her for being taller and bigger than them she defended her and empathized with her. In return she got to witness her friend slowly becoming a shy and beautiful woman that shocked people with her confidence and poise. To Sayori, seeing her friend happy was all she needed.

Yuri was about to launch into another example before blushing "I guess I got carried away, I forgot to ask what you did today Sayori." she asked slightly stammering and looking away, subconsciously smoothing out a piece of her hair that draped down her front.

Sayori laughed and said "It's alright Yuri, we had a guest come in and talked about some cutting edge research about the emotive parts of the brain." she stopped for a moment in thought before grinning and continuing "I even got noticed for my input!" she exclaimed proudly.

Yuri nodded and also smiled slightly at Sayori's enthusiasm. She had spent many a night helping her friend with some of the grind of her coursework. She proudly thought for a moment on Sayori's choice of career.

Her friend hadn't initially wanted to go to college with Yuri, citing she didn't know what she really wanted to do when enrollment came around. Yuri helped her friend for almost an entire week find something she could and wanted to do. In the end Sayori chose to become a Psychologist. In her late teens Yuri found out Sayori had been suffering chronic depression, which came as a shock to her because of Sayori's outgoing and cheerful attitude. After thinking back on her memories of Sayori it made more sense as she noted Sayori's lackadaisical attitude in school and remembering she had to practically pry her out of bed after it to do anything.

Despite that she had herself visited a psychologist at the behest of her parents and Yuri. After a year of testing treatments and counseling to control some of the brunt of emotions she came out of it with a much more natural bright attitude, thanking Yuri and her parents for forcing her. In her words the 'rainclouds are much better now!'. Sayori herself told her she wanted to pursue psychology as it had helped her and she wanted to help others out of the slump she had suffered most of her life.

"How's your relationship going with that guy… what was his name?" Yuri asked quizzically.

Sayori looked distinctly uncomfortable for a moment before sheepishly poking her fingers together and saying "His name was Alan, and we went our separate ways today. He went on between classes about how I 'wasn't putting out'." adopting a slightly disgusted look at the end.

Yuri nodded also disgusted with his behavior "I'm sure you dodged a bullet there, imagine what would happen if you actually went further with him?" she said empathetically.

Sayori nodded before her face grew into a mischievous smirk "How's about _your_ friend you were gushing about the other day, that soldier boy?" she asked impishly.

Yuri quickly blushed as she stammered out rapidly "He's just a friend I write to that's all I keep trying to tell you that!" she borderline shouted.

Sayori laughed at her friend before patting her lightly on the shoulder and saying "I'm just teasing you Yuri calm down."

"Well it wasn't funny you know how I get." Yuri muttered, smoothing her hair out nervously again.

"Didn't you say he's coming back home soon?" Sayori asked.

"Yeah, I feel happy for him finally escaping that country." Yuri said happily before continuing "He doesn't live that far away you know? We talked about maybe meeting each other after all this time."

Sayori adopted a suspicious mentality "How do you know he's not some psychopath?" she asked thinking of her friend's safety and naivety.

"I would know if he was." Yuri said with one of her rare moments of intense confidence. "We've written each other for a long time and I look forward to seeing him." she continued peering at her friend daring her to contradict.

Sayori instead smiled and said "I'm glad you're so confident about him, you're hardly nervous at all Yuri." proudly.

Yuri's resolve folded and she turned away from Sayori, again like clockwork her nervous tick of smoothing her hair out surfaced betraying her thoughts. Sayori laughed again.

'Somethings never change Yuri.' she thought fondly.

* * *

After reaching their street they hugged each other before waving and returning to their individual homes. Most people labeled Yuri as 'sophisticated' and sometimes 'rich' based on her looks and attitude but in reality comes from an unapologetically proud middle class family. Her home was actually the floors above a restaurant the rest of the neighborhood and beyond routinely visit for its homely feel and wide variety of local and exotic meals. People fondly labeled it a 'local treasure' and the mayor of their town once visited, shaking her parents hand congratulating them on such a remarkable mesh of local and oriental cuisine and culture.

As she entered the restaurant to greet her parents she saw a shock of pink hair stand out behind the counter. She smiled warmly as she identified the person in possession of such an attention grabbing hair color as Natsuki and waved at her.

Natsuki had turned her head to the door, hearing the telltale jingle of a customer and smiled brightly at the entrant.

"Hey sis, welcome back!" she exclaimed and returned the wave cheerfully.

Natsuki wasn't Yuri's sister biologically but chose to refer to her as such after moving in with their family a long time ago. In reality they were somewhat distant cousins from the same family that moved to the country seeking a better life. Natsuki's part of the family immigrated shortly after Yuri's but unlike hers were more educated and pursued academia. Natsuki however lost her mother in a car crash, with her father becoming cold and borderline abusive to her. Things came to a heel when her father disappeared and she was left alone however Yuri's family quickly adopted her into the family. Initially sullen and aggressive she became more even tempered and even cheerful as her new parents and sibling treated her with respect and kindness she only experienced a long time ago.

She currently juggled working at Yuri's restaurant as a baker and waitress while studying to become a chef at a culinary trade school. Unlike the rest of her family she found herself more attracted to creating things with her hands and developed a keen interest and ability in baking confectioneries. She first debuted at the restaurant making seasonally themed cupcakes with colors and cute illustrations in icing on the top, quickly becoming a hit with the regulars and passerby alike.

Despite being only a year apart in age, Natsuki had a distinctly dainty appearance from being malnourished for most of her life by her father and commonly was mistaken for a teenager. Recently she took to making things with alcoholic beverages for taste and groused to Yuri about getting carded buying them.

"How's business today Tsuki?" Yuri questioned her adoptive sister with a smile as she looked over the wide variety of pastries on display in a connecting case to the counter.

"Pretty good, I recently made these after our inventory got cleaned out!" Natsuki exclaimed in disbelief "A lot of people came by and ordered all my stuff out."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yuri asked.

"Well yeah but it would be nice if they sat down and ate or something." Natsuki replied abashedly before crossing her arms.

Yuri laughed before looking around and asking "Where's our parents?"

Natsuki shrugged but pointed to the back and replied "Pop's in the back doing his thing but Mom went out to get some stuff."

Yuri nodded before walking around the counter to let her father know she was back. She entered the kitchen area and was immediately hit by the warm air and mouth watering aroma of the food that was made in it. She spotted her father nearby pointing something out to one of the chefs they employed part time and quickly walked over to him.

"Hey father hard at work I see." Yuri greeted catching her fathers attention before hugging him.

"Welcome home Violet, how was your day today?" her fathers worn face broke into a warm grin as he returned the greeting and embrace.

"It was alright, I attended a lecture and walked home with Sayori." she stammered out her reply with a blush at the endearing nickname.

"How's she doing?" her father asked.

"Alright, her med's are pretty consistent now and she's much more content and outgoing." Yuri said before smiling widely and continuing "I haven't had to get her out of bed in a while."

Her father nodded before smiling as well "I'm glad, she's such a beautiful girl she shouldn't have her soul burdened by anything." he said kindly.

"Well I'm going up to do some studying and reading, see you later." Yuri said and kissed her father on the cheek.

Her father nodded before turning around to continue to advise the poor young chef that apparently messed up a dish and Yuri quickly made her way up to their apartment.

Calling it an apartment was sort of a disservice, besides a floor dedicated to storage for the restaurant underneath the rest of the large building was her families home. The third floor of the building connected to the previous floor by a stairwell that ended there as well as the side by a connecting outdoor stairway. It had their families living room as well as a kitchen and dining area. Another stairwell across the living room led to the next floor that had everyone's bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was more of a house that happened to sit atop a restaurant. It was bought and expanded upon by her grandparent's who passed away when she was in high school, and it continued to be owned, operated and maintained by her parent's and possibly in the future Natsuki who had way more interest in the culinary arts than her.

Her parents and late grandparents weren't very traditional, quickly and adamantly choosing to become part of their new country with zeal. The house reflected this and was much like the restaurant, a blend of Eastern and European styles. Most of the furniture was just like any other with a few keepsakes, nick-knacks, and other things hinting to their families background as Asian immigrants turned second generation natives. They only loosely and sparingly spoke their mother tongue, her grandparents teaching their children to speak English as a first language and only teaching theirs as a sort of vestigial component of their past.

She made her way up the stairs to her room after grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, walking past a bathroom and Natsuki's bedroom and entering hers. Unlike many of the other rooms her room almost entirely lacked anything to imply she was in fact Asian. One of the walls was lined with bookshelves of hard darkly stained wood, filled with books most of which were well worn from regular use. Likewise the other wall had her bed and desk also a dark wood and metal. Almost all of her books were bought after working part time at the local library through her high school and college years quickly accumulating into a small personal library of her own.

One of the shelves however had a gap filled with a worn wooden box. It was styled with floral patterns with the finish slightly chipped at the edges and bottom. The shelf itself had scuff marks indicating the small box was frequently moved and put back in the same place for a long time. In this box she exclusively put her correspondence with her friend overseas. She took a moment to take the box off the shelf after placing her bag by the desk and the water on top of it, and placed it next to the water. She took the envelope she had at school out of her bag, reopening it and removed the letter inside to reread it again after she was interrupted by the bell.

* * *

 _Dear Yuri_

 _Life is going good here, I will finally be going back home after this long time overseas. It came as a relief to me since many of the guys had to continue past their due dates but I guess its an indicator hostilities will cease soon or have lessened enough to let some of us return._

 _I am glad you agreed to continue writing each other, and I would be glad to meet you sometime after I finally get back. I'm sure we can do it soon as it won't likely take me long to settle back into the groove of things. I didn't really leave any work or responsibilities when I joined up so it will mostly be settling in and reconnecting with my friends and my mom._

 _My mother Carolyn is ecstatic I am finally coming home. I think she became more and more upset the longer I was away even though she was proud and almost shoved me out the door when I told her I wanted to enlist. I guess that's the curse of parenthood to support and sometimes force your kids to grow up but be equally happy and sad when they finally do._

 _I'll likely be breathing my home countries air by the time you even get this letter, so attached to this letter is my home address. I hope you get back to me with when you might want to meet together and with your usual update on how school is going._

 _Sincerely,_

 _James_

* * *

True enough she received it nearly a week after the signed date, so he was likely home like he said. She briefly skimmed it the day before when she had gotten it from the mail, but took it to school to fully read it. Almost as if the universe wanted her to have it fresh on her mind when she got home she was interrupted _again_.

It worked out since she had the time to reply and think about when she might want to meet him and where. She took out a fresh piece of paper and her favorite refillable ink pen from a drawer in her desk before taking a moment to go over what she wanted and the letter itself.

It was usual fare, they always took the time telling each other what happened in the space between their letters. His were usually shorter than hers by virtue of not much going on with his life or perhaps not wanting to share some of it. She understood this since he was in fact in war zone even if it was more peaceful than when she first contacted him. She was sure he saw many things over there he felt he didn't have to share with her.

 _Yet._

She paused at that thought, maybe he would never tell her what he saw or thought about what he saw over there? They were only friends after all. _Yet_ thinking back on his method of ending the letter up until now her heart beat like many times before at not seeing the ending she wanted to see and not herself writing.

 _Love._

Her friends frequently told her she was extremely possessive and quick to fixate on things. She had many quick burning but passionate hobbies beforehand that the people around her said would probably be fleeting.

Recently she sometimes took to thinking deeper about her friend she never saw or heard the voice of. Every time she thought about it her heart beat faster and she eventually noticed her nervous habit of combing her hair with her fingers that her friend Sayori frequently poked fun of. Her hobbies and lifestyle allowed her to see deeper into writing and put more meaning on it than others that valued face to face contact more, but even she paused whenever she started feeling more about her relationship with the man she didn't know the face of.

She was brought back to her friend's statement on their way home. Her friend was worried and often looked out for Yuri despite her own problems so she always meant well.

' _How do you know he's not some psychopath?'_

It was a valid question from Sayori's end. She didn't read any of the letters that Yuri and her friend James sent back and forth to each other. But Yuri had, and was able to see the heartfelt emotions he put into his words. She always had problems seeing what people really thought face to face, her friend Sayori her superior in that area and always able to tell peoples motivations. Yuri however felt much calmer and more able to construe the meaning behind the language written on a piece of paper. Her nervous habits didn't matter in the face of her pen who she felt never lied if moved honestly with her feelings.

She finally shook her head free of the circular thoughts in her head and moved to start writing her response to his letter.

* * *

 _Dear James_

 _I'm so glad to hear you are finally going to go back home safe and sound! I was also worried about you maybe getting held back since even the news here sometimes talked about soldiers being held from their contracts completion and even some furlough. I sure hope the war will end, even though the death toll was very small that isn't a comfort to families who lost sons and daughters._

 _Of course I wanted to continue speaking with you. If I hadn't I wouldn't have continued after we first wrote each other, student's only really had to write to one person once and I hadn't even written anyone else over there after you got back to me._

 _I am also happy to hear your mother is waiting for you and I bet she's relieved to finally have you home even if she supported your decision. My parents themselves are always fussing and happy to see me come back home after classes even though they are proud I'm going. Good thing I didn't have to go to some far off college and live in some dorm's, they would probably worry sick._

 _In regard's to finally meeting each other personally… If it isn't too short notice maybe you'd like to meet me at my families restaurant I told you about? I told my parents about writing to you after my course was completed and they would be happy to meet you as well. If it's not too much trouble of course since you will want to catch up with friends and your Mom._

 _Nothing of note really happened recently. I've been getting a little deeper into my studies finally seeing more of my rather niche interests in my coursework. Just today they did a lecture on poetry that included some of my favorite writers. My friend Sayori asked about it and listened to be drivel on about it even though she probably didn't really understand some it. She's thoughtful like that to ask me about things like that despite the fact shes only peripherally interested._

 _Let me know what you think about my proposition! I'd like to know as soon as possible and also hear about your week of being back home too._

 _Warm regards,_

 _Yuri_

* * *

She smiled to herself satisfied with what she had written. Nothing really came to mind to reciprocate as far as her day to day, her life in comparison to his was significantly less interesting even if he seemed to genuinely want to hear it. She sometimes wrote about what she did with Sayori or something interesting her sister Natsuki baked or one of her stories from serving at the restaurant, but she was more interested in his escapades with fellow soldiers. Some of the things he recollected from his early days in were very funny indeed!

She did hesitate somewhat at the letter closing, but resolved not to complicate the letter with her phantom feelings that she didn't even really peg down long enough to understand. She sealed the letter inside one of the envelopes she had in a pile in the corner of the drawer she took the paper and pen from before leaving her room.

As she was moving to the side entrance of the apartment she noticed her mother in the kitchen drinking some coffee.

"Hey mom, I missed you coming home." Yuri said with a smile, closing the distance and hugging her.

"I was out doing some errands and getting some odds and ends for Natsuki." her mother laughed squeezing her daughter who was just as tall as she was.

"She goes through baking stuff as fast as I go through books sometimes." Yuri said rolling her eyes.

"Yes but at least she doesn't disappear so long I wonder if I have a daughter at all." her mother teased.

Yuri blushed and shook her head "Don't exaggerate it's not like I am some kind of shut-in." she said embarrassed.

Her mother giggled and Yuri continued "I'll be back I am just putting a letter in the box." she said.

"Oh, another letter for that casanova that captured my sweet innocent daughters attention?" more teasing from Yuri's mother.

Yuri's face reddened even more from embarrassment before deciding not to even acknowledge the obvious fun being made of her with a response and continuing her way to the exit.

She opened the door, leaning out to deposit the letter in the nearby mailbox attached to the houses wall and returning back inside.

"I'm going back up now since my mother just wants to bully me!" she shouted halfheartedly, quickly making her way back to her room with her mom's giggles echoing behind her.

She shut the door behind her after entering, huffing from the embarrassment her mother wrought on her.

'I think I'll just take a shower to cool off.' she thought as she grabbed a towel on a hook behind the door and left to go to a nearby bathroom.

She entered the tastefully painted bathroom, warmly colored with peach and white color tones. White porcelain gleamed from the sink, toilet, and tub with connected stainless steel shower head. She bent down first to turn the knobs, starting the calming stream of warm water before starting to divest herself of her clothes.

She took a moment to look at her naked appearance in the mirror above the sink. She was pretty tall compared to her friend and sister, her friend being average in height and her sister being below average for her age. She stood tall at five foot ten, having grown an unexpected five or so inches since she left high school. She got it from her mother she thought who was also pretty tall for a woman. Her skin was pale but not unhealthily so, with large breasts that only brought her back pain and ridicule before and healthily plump edges in all the right places for her age.

Her mind was brought back to the teasing her mom and her previous thoughts when writing the letter. She ran her hand down her front comparing how she looked to other women. She wasn't normally vain, but thought for a moment if her friend would find her attractive when he met her?

Her thoughts ground to a halt and her face exploded in red as she nervously combed part of her hair with her hand.

'Where did that come from?' she thought panicked.

Yuri quickly turned around and stepped into the tub standing, letting the warm water wash over her frame. She took a moment to enjoy the comfortable and washing sensation of the water as some of the pain in her shoulders lessened before quickly starting to wash her hair and body paying extra attention to her extremely long hair that wound straight down to her lower back. Contrary to other peoples belief she did cut it but it grew quickly and she kept it at generally the same length as her teen years.

She exited the shower tub and started drying herself off with the towel she brought, grabbing another one from a nearby small closet to dry and wrap her hair. The pitter patter of her feat carried her back to her room, closing it behind her and sitting on her bed.

She thought for a moment on what to do and defaulted to her normal activity after school and picked up a book resting on the nightstand, laying back still wrapped in her towel and started reading on her comfortable bed.

'I wonder what James is up to right now?' she thought before getting absorbed into her book, an interesting title she found in a nearby store called _The Portrait of Markov_.

* * *

 **AN:** Introducing Yuri and her Doki compatriots! I tried to fill out her story and give her a wider breadth of personality compared to her off balance and Monika reinforced behavior in _Doki Doki Literature Club_. I hope it's not jarringly OOC or anything or shallow.


End file.
